


If We Have Each Other

by jasonsmclean



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Demigods (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - No Gods (Percy Jackson), Based on a fic, Based on a song, F/M, Future Fic, Not Canon Compliant - The Heroes of Olympus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17446865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasonsmclean/pseuds/jasonsmclean
Summary: “Don’t feel that way,” he whispered, brushing her hair back. “If we have each other, then we’ll both be fine.”Her heart felt ready to burst with love, and she cupped his face in her hands. “You’re so right,” she murmured. “You’re all I need.”





	If We Have Each Other

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bipercabeth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bipercabeth/gifts).



> this is dedicated to AND inspired by emma, who is in the middle of writing a wonderful fic about our kids in college. also inspired by the song 'if we have each other' by alec benjamin. this is for you, emma

_“If we have each other, then we’ll both be fine.”_

The words still resonated inside of Annabeth, even though sometimes it didn’t seem to be the case anymore. When things seemed less than hopeful, she clung onto those words because it was one of the only things that connected her to the idea that everything would turn out okay.

She could still remember the exact moment Percy said that. They were lying in bed, their legs tangled together, hair mussed from sleep. It was in the very beginning of their relationship, so sometimes she would find herself staring at this green-eyed boy who was now her boyfriend, the boy who had seen her at her best and at her worst and somehow still wanted her around even if her family didn’t, and a swelling feeling was expanding inside of her because he was her family. For some reason, it was like he was reading her mind, because his eyes fluttered open and he murmured tiredly, “If we have each other, then we’ll both be fine.” It was unannounced, and within moments he was asleep again. But what he told her never strayed from her. Everything would be okay if they had each other.

It held true, mostly. Their freshman year turned to their sophomore year, which eventually turned into junior year, and before they knew it, they were seniors. They were juggling work and school, which was not always easy, but they made it work. Annabeth still worked at the coffee shop, moving her way up to assistant manager. She took time off from work, spending the first half of the semester in Italy for an amazing study abroad program. It was tough to be away from Percy for three months, but this was a dream come true— an architecture study abroad program. It was everything she wanted it to be.

Things were off when she came back home to finish out her senior year. Three months didn’t seem like a long time in retrospect, yet it seemed to be everything. She came back and nothing was the same and she couldn’t put her finger on what was so wrong. Percy had thrown himself into his studies, applying to jobs for after graduation, picking up extra shifts for some unknown reason, as well as trying to keep up with swim. He was out of the apartment more, coming back late and seemingly distracted. She asked him repeatedly what was wrong, and he would claim that it was nothing, yet there was a far away look in his eyes and he would brush it off. It wasn’t like their relationship was suffering by any means, something was just different. She felt it, and she knew that there was no way that he didn’t feel it.

At the beginning of the spring semester, Annabeth shared her worries with Piper. “He’s just not himself. I’ve tried to ask him what was wrong, and he said it was nothing.”

Piper frowned, her hands cupped around her cup of coffee. When she took a sip, Annabeth could see the ring on her left hand sparkling. She had been adamant that she didn’t want to be engaged until after graduation, but Jason had been in a freak car accident over the summer, which made them both realize that they didn’t want to wait on spending forever together. Sure, they had been dating for longer than Percy and Annabeth, but their past was so extensive. Annabeth wasn’t sure why she felt a stab of envy when she saw the ring, or why she felt the need to defend her own relationship to her friend.

“I mean, he’s always been pretty worried about keeping his grades up. Graduation is soon, he’s probably just focused on finishing well,” Piper suggested, looking unbothered.

But Annabeth couldn’t quite accept that reality.

In March, she interviewed for an amazing internship with a very successful architecture firm in Manhattan. Not only was it a well-known firm, her internship would be paid. She found out almost immediately after her interview that she got the job. Piper threw her a celebratory dinner at her and Jason’s shared apartment. Percy seemed to be somewhere else, not speaking as much as he usually would, staring too intently at the food in front of him.

On the way back home, Annabeth asked again what was wrong. “You haven’t been yourself in months,” she accused. “Percy, I’m worried about you. Please tell me what’s going on.”

“Annabeth, _nothing_ is wrong.” He reached over, taking her hand and squeezing it. He flashed her a smile, but she’d known for too long to not recognize the look in his eyes that proved that he was hiding something. “Don’t worry about me. Tonight is about you.”

Later that night, while he was asleep, she stared at his bare back and couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was not right.

Percy continued picking up more shifts at work, and Annabeth saw him less and less. Even when they spent time together, each moment felt rushed. He had school and work and he won his last swim competition and for a blissful afternoon, everything felt normal— he smelled of chlorine as she kissed him after he triumphantly crawled from the pool. She could almost forget that something wasn’t quite right because after sex that night, he kissed her temple and murmured, “I love you so much,” before going to bed. She was hopeful that the next day would hold the same fate, a lapse back to normalcy, but after cracking out another research paper for his graduation thesis, he dropped a kiss on her head as he grabbed his work apron, hardly telling her what time he was off before he was gone.

That night while flipping through bridal magazines with Piper, Annabeth aired her concern again. “Yesterday was so good,” she mumbled, folding down the corners of some of the pages, doing her best maid of honor duties by helping pick out dresses. “I thought that maybe with the swim season ending, he would relax and work less, you know? I thought that one thing out of the way would make things go back to normal.”

“Hey.” Piper reached over, putting a comforting hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “You guys got together three years ago. That’s a long time. Nothing is supposed to stay the same. You two have grown so much together, maybe you’re so fixated on the old normal that this change is unrecognizable. But he loves you, Annabeth. And you love him.”

“The only reason I feel better is because you’re a psych major and you know exactly what to say,” Annabeth grumbled, returning her gaze back to the bridal magazine as Piper laughed.

For the next few days, Annabeth tried to keep Piper’s advice in mind. She came home from work, took a quick shower before grabbing her laptop and curling up on the couch. Percy was at work, since his shift lasted a few hours longer than her, so she decided to do some homework before he arrived home. And maybe when he did come home, she could spend some time with him.

 _He should be home by now._ Annabeth’s eyes flickered to the time again. It was true, he should have been home nearly an hour ago. He worked only down the block, but maybe his manager asked him to stay a little longer. Maybe he had to run onto campus for something. Maybe… maybe…

Her fingers tapped with a little more force than necessary as she continued to do her homework.

More time passed. Each time she glanced at the clock, the more anxious she got. Her heartbeat was pounding in the back of her throat, and she kept making typos because her hands were shaking so bad. There had to be a reason why he was so late. Maybe he told her the wrong time he got off work, that had to have been it. He was never this late.

By the time the doorknob wiggled with the key from the outside, it was an hour and a half past the time Percy was supposed to come home. The rest of the light had faded, and the clouds that had been threatening the city all day were finally enveloping the world in darkness, the rain pattering against the windows. Calm had been over ages ago, Annabeth having paced across the apartment numerous times. She had considered calling Sally, but hadn’t wanted to worry his mom. In fact, she had been considering calling into his work to see where he was, if he was even there. The sound of the door unlocking sent a rush of relief through her, but there was the pit of anger in her stomach.

Percy’s hair was damp, raindrops clinging to his windbreaker. He hung up his windbreaker, tossing his keys and his wallet on the counter as he always did. “Hey, babe,” he greeted, and he did a double take. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment, the world went still and it was just the two of them. His eyebrows furrowed and the little crease formed between his eyes again, usually something she liked to kiss, but then her vision narrowed and was tainted with white hot anger. “You got off of work at _five_ ,” she said, her voice steely cold. “Five. It’s six forty-five. Where have you been?”

He looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights— eyes widening a bit, shoulders stiffening. There was no way he had been working overtime because the look on his face betrayed him. “I had to run an errand,” he finally said, voice emotionless.

She wasn’t sure what kind of response she wanted. This, she knew, was an evident lie, because she knew exactly what he looked like when he was lying. Maybe not lying, but he was definitely withholding the truth from her. Memories of the past few months came swarming back to her; the nagging feeling that something was changing, the shift in normalcy to this new dynamic, his extra shifts at work, the distance. Any other girl would assume the worst and think this was an infidelity, but she knew Percy. He would _never_ do that to her. Or so she thought. Did she really want to dig for the truth? Everything she thought she knew was slipping away, and she felt like she was free falling. This boy had been such a prominent person in her life for as long as she could remember, and had been her boyfriend for the past three years. She didn’t want to face the truth. Whatever the truth was, she knew she had to hear it even though it could make everything come crumbling down.

“You’re lying,” she said, and he stared at her in disbelief. “You’ve been lying since I got back from Italy. I don’t know what’s going on, Percy, but this…” She shook her head, the anger making her see red. “I shouldn’t sit around expecting you and to wait and wait and not know what was going on or where you were.”

He blinked, staring at her with shock written all over his face. He stepped towards her, and in response she stepped back. “Annabeth, no, I really had to go out,” he told her, speaking slowly, as if she couldn’t process simply information. “I had to grab something after work and it took longer than I expected. I should’ve called, I’m sorry.”

“You should have,” she shot back. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying not to explode. Life was coming apart at the seams and she didn’t want to be angry, but he couldn’t expect to brush off all her questions for months without a reaction out of her. “I just feel like nothing is the same anymore. You’re never really here. I understand that school is important with graduation right around the corner, but you’ve pushed me away. I… I’m right here. I’m your girlfriend. There’s more to life than just school and work. _I’m right here_.”

He shook his head. “I’m right here, too.”

“But you’re not!” Her voice broke and her hands were shaking. He saw this and looked like he wanted to comment on it but she spoke over him. “I know you! There’s something you’re not telling me.”

Again, he shook his hand. He reached for her, trying to reduce the distance between them. “Annabeth, no, listen to me—”

She wrenched her hands out of his hold, not wanting to be touched. Everything was boiling over, hitting that breaking point. “No,” she cried out. She walked to the other side of the apartment, breathing harder than usual. She hadn’t had a panic attack in years and now she felt like she was on the verge of one. “Do you not love me anymore? Is this it? Because, god, Percy, if you don’t, just break up with me now.” The words were pouring out of her like a dam, hidden fears she didn’t knew she had being revealed. While he looked panicked, she felt the panic tenfold. She had tried so hard to withhold these feelings while he was gone because she thought graduation was stressing him out. Him failing to come home on time revealed a plethora of insecurities that were unbeknownst even to her.

“Annabeth—”

“Percy, please,” she said thickly. “I can’t handle any secrets.”

His jaw tensed, and he grabbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ve picked up extra shifts at work to make more money,” he finally explains. She stares at him, eyes swimming with unshed tears that she was fighting so hard to keep in, the explanation empty. “I… I haven’t really lined up a job for after graduation yet, so I need to keep making money for loans and other things.”

“Other things.” Her voice was bitter, sharp, cold. He noticed it, she noticed it. She laughed and the sound is brittle. It almost matched the pouring rain outside. “Percy, I have a job ready for me right after graduation. And I have more money than I need. If it’s loans, don’t worry. I know you hate taking my money, but we’re dating. My money is yours. I can help with the loans and the apartment, but if it’s _other things_ , you’re gonna have to tell me what it is so I can help.”

He looked troubled, his mouth mashing down into a hard line. She usually loved the crease between his eyes, but now she just wanted it gone. “I can’t.”

“You can’t, or you don’t want to?” she demanded. He didn’t reply. “This is ridiculous.” The tears were falling now, hands curled up into fists. She stalked past him, noticing how he practically jumped out of the way of her warpath as she went into their bedroom, grabbing the tattered backpack from the corner.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sounding overwhelmed.

“Spending the night at Piper’s.” She opened up her drawers, grabbing random clothing items and shoving them inside. It was hard to see in the dim light and with tears in her eyes. “I can’t do this dance right now, Percy.”

“What dance?” He followed her as she went into the bathroom, grabbing her hairbrush and toothbrush.

She whirled to face him. His face looked several shades paler than it usually was, green eyes wide with fear. Part of her felt satisfied with his panic. The other half wanted to apologize for her outburst even though it was justified. He had been feeding to the fire of insecurity for months— he should not have been questioning why she was ablaze now.

“This dance where I wait for you to come home while you’re out buying god knows what for whatever reason,” she told him. “I can’t deal with this. I love you, but I can’t pretend everything is normal when it’s not.”

She brushed past him, and he doesn’t move. He’s immobilized in place. She was about to tug on her rain jacket when he calls from behind her, “Everything’s not normal, you’re right. We’re changing, Annabeth.”

The tears are absolutely rushing from her eyes at this point, and she wiped her face with the back of her hand. She tried to grab her keys but the world was blurry and she wasn’t sure if her peripheral vision made the counter look farther away than it was. He admitted it; things were different. She couldn’t handle it.

“They’re different because I’ve been planning on proposing!”

Her hand froze on the doorknob. She wasn’t sure if she heard him correctly or if she was so desperate for things to go back to normal that she hears something that really wasn’t said. Despite this, she turned around, blinking away the tears that refused to stop. “What?” she asked.

He was holding a little black box in his hand, which was shaking. He looked close to tears as well, a wild look in his eyes so desperate that it was almost feral. It was his turn to laugh, and it wasn’t as brittle as hers— it was shaky, breathless. “When you went to Italy, life sucked. It really did. I moped around and all I wanted was you, not some shitty reception phone calls and occasional FaceTimes. I wanted you. And I realized…” He laughed again, and her stomach is wobbling with resolve. “I’ve loved you for years, Annabeth. Even before I knew I loved you, I knew I must have. You are everything. You’ve helped me crawl from what seems like the depths of hell itself. You have stood by me for as long as I can remember. You’re all I want. So I’ve been picking up extra shifts so I could afford this.” He opened the box, a diamond ring resting in the middle. “I’ve been so worried about the timing to do this that I’ve been acting weird. I kept asking Jason and Piper when the right time was and all they could tell me was that it was my decision. I’ve been stressed with getting a job and finishing up the semester _and_ the proposal. That’s why I’ve been acting weird. Yet you’re the one thing that’s kept me calm. I just wanted to make this perfect, but of course I ruined it. Again.”

She wasn’t sure if her lungs would work after that, and she inhaled sharply. The tears had stopped running, but in an instant her eyes are wet again.

“This is not how I envisioned this,” he said plainly, and he blinked heavily. “But I love you so damn much. This may seem really shitty and like an excuse, but I went to the jeweler after work to pick this up. I want you to marry me.” It wasn’t a question— it was a fact. He didn’t get down on one knee, but that was as expected. They were never a traditional couple, so what compelled him to propose traditionally?

The backpack dropped to the ground. She wasn’t sure how she moved so fast, but she was suddenly in his arms and she was whispering, “Yes, yes, of course,” against the crook of his neck. She kissed him with a fervor that could have stopped the storm outside. He was crying as he slipped the ring onto the finger of her left hand, and then his lips were on hers again and he was everywhere. Piper was right— this wasn’t their old normal, it was a new normal.

This boy had been her best friend, her roommate, her boyfriend, and now he was her fiancé. She marveled over him as she pressed her forehead against his, feeling the months of fear lift from her chest. She felt so foolish, and as she relayed her thoughts back to him, he just laughed and kissed her nose.

“Don’t feel that way,” he whispered, brushing her hair back. “If we have each other, then we’ll both be fine.”

Her heart felt ready to burst with love, and she cupped his face in her hands. “You’re so right,” she murmured. “You’re all I need.”

Annabeth had been afraid her little chunk of forever was falling apart, but little did she realize that Percy was planning on making it permanent.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr! https://jasonsmclean.tumblr.com/


End file.
